Ethylene Gas Production Science Fair Projects

Food Projects

Food projects are not only easy to set up, but they can also be very educational. These projects can look at any aspect of food that you want including what makes food go bad.

EDU 7080 Detectolab Kit	EDU 8355 Super Chem Kit	Young Scientists Club Set 4
Ages 8 and up	Ages 10 and up	Ages 9 - 12

Objectives/Goals

Ethylene gas production has been shown to affect the spoiling rate of produce (especially in high concentrations). This experiment examined the ability of differing containers to maintain the freshness of produce, possibly due to the container#s ability to diffuse ethylene gas. The hypothesis was that the Debbie Meyer Green Bags would keep the produce freshest for the longest period of time.

Methods/Materials

Materials used in this experiment included brown paper lunch bags, Debbie Meyer Green Bags, Zip-Loc bags, twelve apples, twelve onions, twelve bananas, and eight cups of precut lettuce. Three pieces of produce, or two cups of lettuce, were placed in each container. A control group, no container, was also done. All were observed for fourteen consecutive days and measured with a differentiated rating scale.

Results

The results showed that Debbie Meyer Green Bags kept the produce freshest for all of the tested produce. The brown paper lunch bags# and the Zip-loc bags# results varied depending on the type of produce, the ethylene gas production and the published sensitivity rate of the produce. Results are ongoing as further repetitions are being performed.

Conclusions/Discussion

Overall, the control group spoiled at the most rapid rate. The hypothesis was correct due to the Debbie Meyer Green Bags# Natural Oya# mineral form of Zeolite which absorbed and removed the ethylene gas that causes ripening and rotting. The other containers used in the project do not possess the same mineral that absorbs ethylene gas. More specialized equipment would need to be used to measure the ethylene concentration within these containers. 3rd party contributor